Physiological Markers in Anxiety and Depression

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Purpose: Anxiety and depression are the concepts that commonly used as an emotional approach in the nursing researches and most of researches have been used questionnaires as a marker of anxiety and depression. There were few researches using physiological markers in measuring anxiety and depression. Methods: Journals published between 1950 and 2007 that include depression and anxiety measuring through physiological markers were reviewed. Results: As in the case of the hypothlamus-pituitary-adrenal axis system, it appeared that cortisol, epinephrine, and norepinephrine belonged to the category of hormones which were responsive to anxiety and depression. Plasma norepinephrine was a marker of the anxiety whereas plasma cortisol was a marker of the depression. The anxiety and depression were correlated with immune and taste, but it considered as an outcome variable not a physiological marker. Conclusion: Catecholamine and cortisol reflect anxiety and depression state. Our findings suggest that further researches are needed to distinguish between markers and outcomes of depression and anxiety using physiological markers.